Aroostook County (/əˈruːstək/ ə-ROO-stək; French: Comté d'Aroostook) is a county in the U.S. state of Maine along the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,105.^[3] The county seat is Houlton,^[4] with offices in Caribou and Fort Kent.^[5]

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Aroostook County
County
Aroostook County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Maine
Maine's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 46.65°N 68.59°W / 46.65; -68.59
Country	United States
State	Maine
Founded	May 1, 1839
Named for	Miꞌkmaq word meaning "beautiful water"[1][2]
Seat	Houlton
Largest city	Presque Isle
Area
• Total	6,828 sq mi (17,680 km2)
• Land	6,671 sq mi (17,280 km2)
• Water	156 sq mi (400 km2)  2.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	67,105
• Density	9.8/sq mi (3.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	2nd
Website	www.aroostook.me.us

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Known in Maine as "The County",^[6][7] it is the largest county in Maine by total area, the second-largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River by total area,^[8][9][6] behind St. Louis County, Minnesota) and the 31st-largest county in the entire contiguous U.S. With over 6,800 square miles (18,000 km²) of land, it is larger than three of the smaller U.S. states. It is Maine's northernmost county; the state's northernmost village, Estcourt Station, is also the northernmost community in the New England region and in the contiguous United States east of the Great Lakes.

Aroostook County is known for its potato cultivation, and it is an emerging hub for wind power. Historically, Acadian culture and heritage is well-represented in the county. In the Saint John Valley (northern Aroostook county), which borders Madawaska County, New Brunswick, many of the residents are bilingual in English and Acadian French. Elsewhere in Maine, New England French is the predominant form of French spoken.

Aroostook County forms the entirety of the Presque Isle media market, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The sparsely populated North Maine Woods, roughly defined as the headwaters of the Saint John, Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers, was populated during the colonial era by refugees fleeing oppressive governments. Native Americans (retreating from hostile European colonists, and smugglers trading with them, and between English Massachusetts and French Acadia) lived in small communities along the Atlantic coast on the disputed border between those colonies. As England dominated the Gulf of Maine following the French and Indian Wars, these occupants of the border region retreated up the large rivers into the interior joined by Acadians escaping the Acadian Expulsion. Although the survivors might have preferred to remain independent, surrounding governments dividing their refuge perceived Aroostook County as the west bank of the Saint John River drainage upstream of Canada. Under United States control, the area was initially dominated by lumber manufacturing interests, although agriculture became important as population increased. Transportation along the Saint John River, and early rail connections into New Brunswick, created strong business ties with Canada, until the county was connected to the United States rail network by the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad in 1894. Aroostook County residents retain an independent cultural identity established during their history of isolation on the border frontier.^[10]

Aroostook County was formed, in 1839, from parts of Penobscot and Washington counties. Between 1843 and 1844, the county gained more land from Penobscot County, and further exchanged land with Piscataquis County. In 1889, Aroostook gained a small amount of Penobscot land, subsequently giving it back in 1903, when Aroostook County took on its current form.^[11] Some of the territory in the county was part of the land dispute that led to the "Aroostook War", a dispute which would be settled by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty.

The county was also part of a route on the Underground Railroad, and was one of the last stops before entering Canada. Slaves would meet and hide just outside Aroostook^[12] or in deserted areas. Friends Quaker Church near Fort Fairfield was often a final stop.^[13]

Much of Aroostook County's economy was dominated by military spending through the Cold War. Limestone Army Air Field was built in Limestone, Maine, in 1947. It was renamed Loring Air Force Base (AFB) in 1953 as the home of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) 42d Bombardment Wing operating Convair B-36 Peacemaker bombers. Aroostook County was chosen due to its strategic location as the closest point in the Continental United States to the Middle East and Europe including the Soviet Union west of the Ural Mountains. Loring AFB could accommodate one hundred of these large bombers; and had both the largest fuel storage capacity, at 9,200,000 US gallons (35,000,000 L), and the largest weapons storage capacity, at 4700 tonnes NEW, of any SAC base. The 42d Bombardment Wing at Loring operated Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers^[14] until the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended closure and the base closed in 1994.^[15]

The 2014 Acadian World Congress was held along the Canada–United States border, co-hosted by Aroostook County and a number of neighboring counties in Canada (Témiscouata in Quebec, and Victoria, Madawaska and Restigouche in New Brunswick). Organizers planned a Tintamarre that was held in the town of Madawaska, Maine, as well as a giant tug of war across the Saint John River.^[16]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 6,828 square miles (17,680 km²), of which 6,671 square miles (17,280 km²) is land and 156 square miles (400 km²) (2.3%) is water.^[17] Aroostook County is Maine's largest county by area, about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. The county high point is Peaked Mountain, elevation 2,230 feet (680 m), whose western slopes are in the north east corner of Piscataquis County.

Although the county is more socially conservative than Maine's southern and coastal counties, it was won by the Democratic presidential candidate in the six elections from 1992 – 2012^[18] before going for the Republican candidate in 2016 and 2020.^[19] In the Maine Legislature, the county's delegation in 2013 included three Democrats and seven Republicans.^[20] In 2009 it voted 73% in favor of a referendum rejecting same-sex marriage and 54% against the Maine Medical Marijuana Act.^[21] In 2012, it voted 67% against a measure to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine.^[22]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Aroostook County, Maine